1996 No. 363
Education (Assessment Arrangements for Key Stages 1 and 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996
Made
Coming into operation
The Department of Education, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 7(1)(b), (2)(a)(ii) and (6) of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 19891 and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:
Citation and commencement1
This Order may be cited as the Education (Assessment Arrangements for Key Stages 1 and 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 and shall come into operation on 1st September 1996.
Application2
1
Subject to paragraph (2) the provisions of this Order shall apply in respect of pupils in grant-aided schools who are in the fourth year of the first key stage and the third year of the second key stage.
2
This Order shall not have effect in relation to a pupil in respect of whom a board is maintaining a statement of special educational needs under Article 31 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 19862 and who, on the making of an assessment of his special educational needs, has been assessed by that board under Article 29 of that Order as having severe learning difficulties.
Interpretation3
In this Order—
“assessment unit” means a piece of work, provided by the Council, to be carried out by a pupil for the purpose of assisting a teacher to ascertain what the pupil has achieved in relation to one or more attainment targets in a relevant subject;
“attainment target” means an attainment target in a relevant subject specified in the Curriculum (Programmes of Study and Attainment Targets at Key Stages 1 and 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 19963;
“the Council” means the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment4;
“the Assessment Document” means the document published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office entitled “Assessment Arrangements in Key Stages 1 and 2”5;
“relevant subject” means—
- a
subject to paragraph (b), English or Mathematics;
- b
in relation to a pupil who is in an Irish speaking school, English, Irish or Mathematics;
- a
“the 1989 Order” means the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
Duty to carry out assessment4
1
It shall be the duty of the principal of the school to make arrangements for an assessment of each pupil’s attainment in the relevant subjects specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
2
Subject to paragraph (3), each pupil shall be assessed in English and Mathematics for the purpose of ascertaining what he has achieved in relation to the attainment targets—
a
at or near the end of the first key stage, for that key stage; and
b
at or near the end of the second key stage, for that key stage.
3
Where a pupil is in an Irish speaking school he shall be assessed for the purpose of ascertaining what he has achieved in relation to the attainment targets—
a
in Irish and Mathematics at or near the end of the first key stage, for that key stage; and
b
in English, Irish and Mathematics at or near the end of the second key stage, for that key stage.
Assessment by teachers5
1
In relation to each relevant subject, each pupil shall be assessed by a teacher in accordance with this Article in the period commencing on 1st January of the year in which the pupil is due to complete—
a
the first key stage; or
b
the second key stage;
and ending on a date in the same school year specified in the Assessment Document (both dates inclusive) and a record of the results shall be made by that teacher not later than a date specified in the Assessment Document.
2
Subject to paragraph (5) the teacher shall determine each pupil’s level of attainment achieved in relation to each attainment target in each relevant subject by reference to the level descriptions for each attainment target specified for that subject.
3
The teacher shall administer to each pupil at each key stage the assessment units specified in the Assessment Document in relation to that key stage during the period mentioned in paragraph (1) and shall mark the assessment units in accordance with a marking scheme provided by the Council.
4
The record of results made under paragraph (1) for each pupil shall consist of a statement of the level of attainment achieved in relation to each attainment target as determined under paragraph (2) and a statement of the level of attainment achieved consequent upon the marking of assessment units under paragraph (3).
5
In making an assessment of a pupil under this Article a teacher shall take into account the results of assessment units taken by that pupil under paragraph (3) and may also take into account the results of any other assessment units taken by that pupil other than those taken under that paragraph and any previous assessment of that pupil (whether or not made by that teacher).
6
In this Article “level descriptions” means the levels set out in the Document published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office entitled “The Northern Ireland Curriculum Key Stages 1 and 2, Programmes of Study and Attainment Targets”6 in relation to the attainment targets specified under the Curriculum (Programmes of Study and Attainment Targets at Key Stages 1 and 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996.
Information to be provided to the Council6
It shall be the duty of the principal of the school, in respect of each pupil, to send notification to the Council comprising the information, in the form and by the dates, specified in the Assessment Document.
Calculation of pupils' levels of attainment7
1
Subject to paragraph (2) each pupil’s level of attainment in each relevant subject shall be calculated as specified in the Assessment Document and the Council shall send notification to the school comprising the following information—
a
each pupil’s subject level;
b
the percentage of pupils at the school in the fourth year of the first key stage and in the third year of the second key stage achieving each level of attainment; and
c
the percentage of all pupils in Northern Ireland in each of the years specified in sub-paragraph (b) achieving each level of attainment.
2
Subject to Article 9, a pupil’s subject level in a relevant subject shall be the average of his level of attainment achieved in relation to all the attainment targets for that subject determined under Article 5(2) and where the average calculated is not a whole number it shall be rounded to the nearest whole number, the fraction of one half being rounded upwards to the next whole number.
Arrangements for review8
1
The Council shall set in place arrangements to review the information sent to the Council under Article 6.
2
The Council shall set in place the arrangements specified in the Assessment Document—
a
to determine whether the standards of assessment in a school are appropriate; and
b
to review the marking of assessment units.
Exemptions9
1
Where, under Articles 14 (development work and experiments), 15 (exceptions by regulations), 16 (pupils with statements of special educational needs) or 17 (temporary exceptions for individual pupils) of the 1989 Order, a pupil has been exempted from one or more attainment targets in a relevant subject that pupil shall be assessed by a teacher in accordance with Article 5 only in relation to the remaining attainment targets in that subject and where a pupil has been exempted from a relevant subject as a whole Article 4 shall not apply in respect of that subject.
2
Where a pupil has been exempted as described in paragraph (1) from one attainment target in a relevant subject his level of attainment achieved in relation to that subject shall be the average of his levels of attainment achieved in relation to the remaining attainment targets in that subject.
3
Where a pupil has been exempted as described in paragraph (1) from two or more attainment targets in a relevant subject a level of attainment shall not be determined for that pupil in that subject and the school shall notify the Council accordingly.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Education on 6th August 1996.
(This note is not part of the Order.)